Rival Team Stuns Fans When the Player Stops to Fix Her Hijab

Something slipped off

Her heartbeat increased rapidly when she found herself alone at the rival’s base. Seeing a half-dozen opponents charge toward her, she desperately kicked the ball away. Then Sarah (name changed to protect her identity) felt someone’s hand brush the top of her head. Sarah froze. Every cell in her body turned their attention on the top of her head… In an instant, her whole future filled with shame and embarrassment flashed before her eyes. What would happen if that hand knocked off her hijab and her head was exposed? She could feel it happening in slow motion. Sarah panicked as she realized her hijab was slipping off. The eyes of thousands of fans turned to her in a blink. Then her opponents did something so unexpected and left the whole stadium bewildered.

The Hijab

For a Muslim like her, the hijab is not just any tradition. While many people think the hijab can be restrictive, for many women, it’s a symbol of liberation, manners, and self-presentation. But here’s the thing… She must always wear the hijab when in public and whenever they’re around men outside of their immediate family. That’s why this moment on the soccer field was so terrifying. For years… no one outside of Sarah’s family had ever seen her hair. Now… would thousands of people she didn’t even know see what no stranger should ever see?

Equality

FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) used to ban players for wearing hijabs. But the rules were lifted in 2014. It was proven that as long as the hijabi women cover their heads, they are safe to play football. Unfortunately, four years later… an incident occurred that was beyond their assumptions.

Final Women’s League

It was 2018 when the news broke out that Sarah and her teammates in Amman Club would be participating in the Final Women’s League. Sarah’s heart pounded in excitement knowing that they would compete against another Jordanian team, the Shabab Ul Urdon Club. However, this opponent team would soon leave a big impact on her life…

The Game

The big day came. Sarah trained hard and prepared enough for this… yet she couldn’t help but feel anxious as she glanced over to the jam-packed stadium. It was steaming and loud. She hadn’t even taken the field, but she could feel sweat starting to build under her hijab. On the other side, she scanned the rival team in red uniforms. In a flash, her chest tightened. She raised her hand and touched her head. She was the only player wearing the hijab. She nervously fixed the white cloth around her face. Would the red team take advantage of it?

Mid-game

Every time the crowd cheered, it fumed her heart with passion. Midway through the game, she got a chance to strike. The ball danced between her feet. The red team chased her to the edge, so she dodged and sprinted to the far side of the field. She felt the cold sweat trickling inside her hijab. The crowd screamed wilder and wilder. As they got closer and jabbed at the ball, she spun and dug to protect it. Little did she know, in just a few moments there would be something more important than the ball to protect…

 The Incident

As she caught her breath, she could see the goal from a few meters away. She was way behind enemy lines and all alone. There was no one she can pass the ball to! Two opponents surrounded her instantly, and she curved the ball away. But when she chased the ball again, one of the opponent’s hand accidentally brushed the top of her head making her hijab slip away.

Helpless

When she realized that her hair was visible, she instinctively pulled her hijab back and stopped playing. But the fabric started to loosen more. She bent down and tried frantically to cover her head with her hands as much as she could—but she knew it was futile. Sarah’s heart pounded and froze all at once. She was helpless…

Unexpected action

The girls in red couldn’t help but see Sarah struggling. Even though Sarah was playing against them, they rushed toward her without hesitation. They had the advantage. They could have stolen the ball and ran off with it. But they stopped instantly instead. And what they did next was beyond belief in modern sports. The players stopped playing— even as time continued to tick. Sarah kept ducking her head in embarrassment. She felt exposed until she noticed a group of red uniforms had surrounded her.

Came to the Rescue

Sarah finally got a grasp of what her opponents were trying to do. Three players in red uniforms started covering Sarah from the crowd’s sight. She kneeled down to fix her hijab while the girls were comforting her and patting her on the back. Then more red players rushed in and formed a solid circle—enough to conceal her. Suddenly, calmness came to her. She felt safe. And in no time, she was able to get back on her feet. The crowd were so moved that they started applauding the players. One from the audience members recorded the scene and a year later, the historic moment resurfaced again…

Viral Video

The footage of their heartwarming scene went viral and gained 4.4 million views on Twitter. The world was indeed moved by the players’ spontaneous act. One user tweeted, “That’s impressive awareness by those ladies, really cool!” But some opinions are still divided, “What’s so bad about having her hair seen?” tweeted the other. 

It looks like not everyone understands the importance of Muslim beliefs and customs. Just like the Muslim student-athlete who was disqualified and discriminated in a cross-country race just because she was wearing a hijab.

Another hijab-related sports dilemma 

This young lady was a student-athlete for as long as she could remember. She always loved playing sports and could not live without them. As a high school student, she did her best to balance her time between studying and competing in races with her team. She trusted her teammates and respected her coach. But little did she know, she would be treated unfairly just because she had different beliefs…

The struggles of being a student-athlete 

Noor Alexandria Abukaram was just like any other normal sixteen-year-old high school student. She studied well to pass her classes and loved to participate in extracurricular activities, but what she loved doing the most was participating in sports events with her team. However, Alexandria admitted that there was something she would always worry about whenever she competed…

Alexandria’s experience

“I have been a student-athlete my entire life, and every time we compete, the thought crosses my mind during uniform checks,” Alex shared. Despite being united with her teammates through the sport she loved, she was afraid that her different beliefs would one day separate her from her team…

Alexandria’s anxiety

Alex recalled the time when she felt the most anxious. A girl from their team was asked to sit out of events all because her shorts did not match her school’s official uniform. “At this point, the girl on my team changed her shorts,” Alex said. 

Close Call

When she saw the game official call out her teammate just for having different shorts, Alex’s heart began to race uncontrollably. She felt cold sweat dripping from her skin. “Immediately, I began to wonder if they were going to call on me next since I was wearing all black pants and hijab,” Alex shared. 

Luckily, she wasn’t called out for wearing a different uniform. “I was relieved that they had not said anything to me,” Alex said. But something still didn’t feel right.

Gut feeling 

Deep down, Alex knew that her beliefs might get in the way of the thing she loved doing the most, running. Alex kept wearing her uniform with her Nike hijab as usual. She did her best during the races and ran as fast as she could. But after one particular race—now called THE INFAMOUS RACE—she noticed something odd. 

Confused and Afraid 

Everything was normal on the day of THE INFAMOUS RACE. But after, Alex found herself confused and afraid. She felt like someone had driven their fist straight into her gut. She couldn’t catch her breath. As she stared up at the scoreboard, she couldn’t find her name anywhere. She had run fairly. So what was going on? Confused and anxious, she tried to ask her teammates what was going on. 

At this point, Alex was confused. There had to be a mistake. Why was her name missing? So she walked to her team and broke, “Hey guys my name isn’t on the list.” They all stared at her blankly. No one wanted to say what was on their mind.  No one wanted to give her the bad news. Then one of them spoke up: “You got disqualified.”

Disappointed and humiliated 

Alex wanted to crawl under the bleachers and cover herself in dirt. What just happened? Despite the fact that she had always known this day might come, Alex didn’t expect it to hurt this much. “This is something that I had always feared which has now become a reality. I just walked away and my teammates didn’t say anything else,” Alex confessed. Alex was deeply heartbroken by the entire incident, she trusted her teammates and her coach. How could they hide this from her? And why would they do this to her? 

Behind the controversy 

It turns out, her coach already knew about the decision before the race even began. Alex was dumbfounded, during the whole time she ran for Sylvania Northview High School, she did not hear any official tell her about the uniform code or any waiver. 

“I wasn’t given the chance to explain myself to them because they didn’t have the decency to tell me what the issue was,” Alex seethed. She would not let this disqualification silence her. Instead… it brewed a storm. 

Alex speaks up

Unafraid of speaking up, Alex didn’t bottle her feelings anymore and expressed her honest opinions on what had just happened. 

“I feel like my rights as an athlete were violated this weekend because this rule does NOT exist in writing. I should not have to get a waiver signed and approved by OSAA to allow me to race due to my religious head covering. Hijabs are not specifically prohibited by OSAA rulings,” Alex scolded.

Hope for Hijab sports players

Fortunately, the OHSAA will look into this and might reconsider its regulations about Hijabs in the future. The Sylvania Northview High School coaching staff is also doing their best to communicate with the OHSAA in order to ensure that Alex will be able to run with her hijab again in the future without any problems.